15 volunteers from a University of Delaware sorority joined 10+ other individuals, including representatives from the DE Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Delaware Society for the Preservation of Antiquities, and National Park Service, to install trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plantings along the banks of White Clay Creek.   The plants will help stabilize the creek banks at the state-owned historic property known as the Hale-Byrnes House in Newark, Delaware.  The property has been subjected to significant flooding during the previous five years and invasions of invasive species such as shallow-rooted Japanese hops that do little to stop the creek banks from eroding.  It is hoped that this “Phase I” effort will be followed soon with funding for a full-scale creek bank restoration project that will more firmly anchor the soil in place and help alleviate stormwater management issues.

The event at Hale-Byrnes House is part of the “Plant One Million Trees” campaign, the first multi-state tree campaign in the U.S., which reached communities throughout the region on Saturday, Nov. 5, with mass plantings, celebrations, tree sales, and other activities. More than 2,100 trees will be added to the landscape of Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware in this extraordinary mobilization of organizations and individuals.  The campaign is sponsored by Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the TreeVitalize program of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the New Jersey Tree Foundation, and the Delaware Center for Horticulture.  The event at Hale-Byrnes House was organized by the River Administrator for the White Clay Creek, a National Wild & Scenic River, in cooperation with the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs and Delaware Society for the Preservation of Antiquities, with funding through the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.